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Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Two Js

[O! The joy! I can post again!!]

J is for Jersey. The namesake of the Garden State is the Bailiwick of Jersey, which in turn was named for mighty Caesar.Insula Caesarea is just 45 sq mi (116 sq km) and is 40% larger at low tide than at high tide (!), yet it's the largest of the Channel Islands, famed for its fine dairy cattle, potatoes, and wealth of endangered species. Formally a dependency on the British Crown yet not part of the U.K., Jersey citizens have their own passports, speak English, French, and Jèrriais, and have their own currency, the Jersey pound. In the 1640s, Charles II granted Jersey Bailiff George Carteret holdings in the "new world"; Carteret named them (what else?) New Jersey.

(NB. The image of the Jersey pound is not mine; sorry, I couldn't find proper attribution for it. Could it be a coincidence that the New Jersey quarter also has a boating theme? I think not!)

Jersey is also a term for very fine wool, for finely knit fabric, and for garments and undergarments, particularly T-shirts, made from that fabric. If anyone knows why, please comment.

And J is for jute, my favorite garden twine. It's soft enough for use on tender shoots, composts well, and is reasonably inexpensive. It even makes decent beach sandals, more on that shortly.